101: Freshman Seminar – The Seven Deadly Sins / Mira Balberg, TTH 2:00-‐3:30 PM
101: Freshman Seminar – Religion and Philosophy in Film and the Works of Woody Allen / Michelle Molina, M 9:30-‐11:30 AM & W 9:30-‐10:50 AM
221: IntroducOon to New Testament/ Richard Kieckhefer, MWF 10:00-‐10:50 AM
The no'on of sin is one of the most central facets of religion in the Western world. Thinking of religion as a system that orients human beings to certain beliefs and ac'ons, we naturally assume that a cri'cal part of these beliefs and ac'ons has to do with ques'ons of right and wrong, and that the “wrong” in religious systems is o?en classified as “sin.” But what is “sin,” exactly? What cons'tutes a sinful act and what makes one a sinner? In this seminar, we will approach these ques'ons from a cri'cal point of view and delve into the very rich and complex concept of sin so as to understand how it has evolved through 'me and how it shaped and con'nues to shape our world. At the center of the course will stand “the seven deadly sins,” an idea that started to develop around the fourth century C.E., according to which there are seven major sins that essen'ally generate all possible sins: gluKony, lust, anger, envy, greed, sloth, and pride. We will see how the “seven deadly sins”have emerged against the background of earlier no'ons of sin (Greek, Jewish, and Chris'an) and we will look closely into each one of those “deadly sins,” considering why and how it came to be viewed as a sin and how it s'll resonates in the world in which we live. Our interest in this class is not in asser'ng how one should or should not behave, but rather in discovering the history and complexity of the concept of sin. In this respect, this seminar will introduce you to the academic study of religion more broadly: you will have a taste of religion as a fascina'ng, vibrant, and mul'faceted topic of intellectual and analy'cal engagement from a historical, literary, and social perspec've.
In this course, we approach philosophy and religion through the lens of the late-‐20th century comedic genius, Woody Allen. The human quest for meaning has produced some founda'onal texts in the western tradi'on. Allen plays with this tradi'on in his own films. We will approach his films and his filmmaking prac'ce as essen'al to understanding philosophy as a "way of life."
210: IntroducOon to Buddhism / George Bond, MW 12:30-‐11:50 PM
This course provides an Introduc'on to the religion begun by the Buddha in India some 2500 years ago. The Buddhist religion has shaped the thought and culture of Asia and has also influenced Western thought and culture in significant ways. To interpret this diverse religious tradi'on, this course approaches it from several perspec'ves, including the historical, the philosophical, the religious and the cultural. The primary emphasis will be on inves'ga'ng the philosophical and religious teachings of Gautama the Buddha in India as well as the thought and history of later Buddhists in other parts of Asia. The course views Buddhism as a tradi'on that established a system of values, an interpreta'on of existence and a paKern of cultural prac'ces and rituals that the Buddhists have interpreted and applied in various ways to find meaning in life.
This course will examine the texts of the New Testament, with aKen'on to themes and interpreta'ons and to historical context. The lectures, the textbook, and the supplementary readings will expose students to a variety of interpre've perspec'ves-‐theological and historical, from tradi'onalists, from revisionists within the Chris'an tradi'on, and from outsiders to that tradi'on-‐and students will be expected to engage in an intellectually serious way with this diversity of views.
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240: IntroducOon to ChrisOanity/ ChrisOna Traina, MWF 9:00-‐9:50 PM
This course explores the basic beliefs and key historical developments of Chris'anity from a religious studies perspec've. We will use both recent and period wri'ngs to explore the early history of Chris'anity and trace its division into three main branches. A?er a theore'cal and hands-‐on inves'ga'on of how these differences manifest in Chris'an worship and architecture, we will explore some of the points of tension for Chris'ans in recent and contemporary culture. Central themes include Chris'anity's iden'ty as communal, missional, and theological.
RELIGION 272/ GERMAN 272: Luther and the West / ChrisOne Helmer MW 11:00 AM-‐12:20 AM When the 16th-‐century Catholic friar, Mar'n Luther, stood up for his convic'ons before pope and emperor, the history of the West was changed forever. In this course we will study the powerful impact that Luther had on the West, both its history and aspects of its culture. Themes addressed are: the seculariza'on of the modern West, economics, poli'cal theology, philosophy of religion (Kant and Hegel), an'-‐Semi'sm, reason and the will, modern subjec'vity, the arts. The course aims to show how religion and theology are related to broader cultural, poli'cal, social, and aesthe'c issues. Class evalua'on is based on quizzes, study guides, class par'cipa'on, and a wriKen paper.
PHILOSOPHY 312: Studies in Modern Philosophy – Spinoza / Kenneth Seeskin MW 10:00-‐11:20 AM This course will explore Spinoza’s metaphysics and epistemology. Among the topics to be covered are: the meaning of substance, the nature of causality, the existence of God, determinism, the rela'on between mind and body, final causality, the requirements for knowledge,the extent of human knowledge. Parallels will be drawn with Aristotle, Maimonides, and Descartes. Finally we will explore the ques'on of whether Spinoza was the last medieval or the first modern thinker.
313: Tibetan Buddhism – Tibetan Religion and Culture / Antonio Terrone TTH 12:30-‐1:50 PM What is Tibet and what are the major features of Tibetan religions? What dis'nguishes the Tibetan cultural region from its neighbors? How have images of Tibet come to encompass everything from a peaceful Shangri-‐la on the roof of the world to a supers''ous backwater in need of libera'on? What does libera'on mean in the case of Tibet -‐ both as a religious and a poli'cal concept? Who is the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet and how has he come to be regarded as a god-‐king for many Tibetans and a splifst aiming to divide the motherland according to the People's Republic of China? This course will examine the religions of Tibet (primarily Buddhism but also Bön) with a focus on their significance within Tibetan culture, society, and poli'cs in Tibetan history from the 'me of Tibet's Imperial Dynasty (7-‐9th centuries) to the present day. Topics the course will explore include Western imagina'ons of Tibet, Tibetan religious and poli'cal history, Sino-‐Tibetan conflicts, Tibetan religious and philosophical tradi'ons, Tibetan autobiographical literature, Tibetan medical arts, death rituals, the status of women and nuns in Tibet, the Tibetan Diaspora, the post-‐Cultural Revolu'on revival of religion in Tibet, and contemporary restric'ons imposed on Tibetan religious ins'tu'ons and prac'ces by the People's Republic of China. Course materials include English transla'ons of major Tibetan historical and religious texts, secondary source analyses of these materials, and Tibet-‐related films, documentaries, and Websites.
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318: Topics in East Asian Religions – Buddhism and Violence in Asia Antonio Terrone, TTH 3:30-‐4:50
This course inves'gates the rela'onship between Buddhism, poli'cs, na'onalism, and violence in a number of Asian states. We will start by examining the categories of na'onalism, poli'cs, and violence, with a spotlight on terrorism in south and east Asia. The first part of the course will build students' exper'se in the basic concepts, defini'ons, and general academic consensus about these challenging categories. We will then move into an analysis of Buddhist aftudes toward social engagement, na'onalism and ethnicity, and the recourse to violence in modern Asia. Some of the provoca've ques'ons that this course will ask include: How is Buddhism involved in poli'cs? How does Buddhism ra'onalize violence? How can some Buddhist leaders embrace terror as a poli'cal tool? Can the prac'ce of self-‐immola'on as it is currently being enacted in Tibet be considered a terrorist act? By looking at exis'ng academic literature in the field, students will be encouraged to improve their knowledge of these problema'c categories and engage cri'cally in the analysis of the specific issues dealt with during the course. Although this course will include some introductory references to the essen'als of Buddhism, some knowledge of Buddhism will be an advantage.
319: Topics in Buddhism – Buddhist Autobiography / Sarah Jacoby, W 1:00-‐3:20 PM
In the middle of the twen'eth century, cufng-‐edge literary theorists concluded that autobiography was exclusively a product of "Western" individualis'c culture, thereby ignoring the literary output of large parts of the globe, including the Buddhist religious literature of Tibet and East Asia. The goal of this course is to explore Buddhist biography and autobiography as literary genres and as lenses through which we can examine the various meanings of living an exemplary life, focusing on religious literature from India and Tibet. Ques'ons the course will probably include: How did a religious doctrine such as Buddhism, which denies the ul'mate existence of the self, become a major locus of auto/biographical wri'ng? What is the nature of the self as it is expressed in Buddhist religious auto/biography, and what were the aims of this literature? What can we learn from reading biographies and autobiographies about Buddhist selves, socie'es, and histories? How do differences of gender, na'onality, and religious lineage inform auto/biographical representa'ons of the self? Course readings will be 1) English transla'ons of Indian and Tibetan biographies and autobiographies and 2) theore'cal approaches to the study of biography and autobiography drawn from a diverse array of literary theorists. Through reading primary source literature and theore'cal essays hand-‐in-‐hand, classroom discussions will explore the relevance of Western literary theory for the study of Buddhist auto/biography while paying close aKen'on to the narra've themes and tropes found in Buddhist auto/biography.
332: Modern Jewish Thought / Claire Sufrin, MW 3:30-‐4:50 PM
This course examines significant developments in Jewish philosophy and theology from the Enlightenment through the late 20th century. We will consider several thinkers and their understandings of philosophical ideas such as authority, knowledge, and selmood in rela'onship to their reinterpreta'ons of Jewish concepts including God, revela'on, and the Jewish people. Readings from Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Cohen, Rosenzweig, Buber, Levinas.
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333: Gender and ExistenOal Aspects in Jewish MysOcism / Yakir Englander TTH 12:30-‐1:50 PM
What is the role of Jewish mys'cism in the general Jewish tradi'on? Does God have a body and is it a feminine or masculine one? What does it mean when we read sources where God cries and laughs? What are the symbols in Jewish Kabbalah and how are they influenced by our sexual lives? There are two core goals in the coming course. First, we will explore the role of mys'cism in Jewish theology, learn it's language and gain the tools necessary to read these secret texts. Second, the course will focus on the existen'al and gender aspects of Jewish mys'cism. My claim is that since mys'cism in general is a genre which is hidden from the public, it is a space where theologians can deal with the most in'mate elements in their lives. Among other things, the mys'cs deal in this genre with the tension between public censorship and their sexual wishes, their desire to be totally devoted to the divine by commit suicide, and their feelings of existen'al suffering. Another aspect of the course will be to read the wri'ngs of Jewish mys'cism through the lens of gender theory and to see how this can enrich our understanding of the sexual and gender images of God. Among others, we will read Luce Irigaray, Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. 339: Topics in Judaism – Judaism and (Non) Violence-‐ Theology and the Israeli-‐PalesOnian Conflict / Yakir Englander, TTH 3:30-‐4:50 PM
What is the role of the Jewish religion in the Israeli – Pales'nian conflict? Is the Occupa'on a result of Jewish theology? Is nonviolent ac'on also a Jewish value? And -‐ does the Jewish God forbid violence, or encourage it? This course will delve into the Israeli-‐Pales'nian conflict using the tools of Jewish theology. Each of the course’s themes will first be examined from the perspec've of Jewish theology. Later, we will inves'gate if and how Jewish theologies and values influence the actual conflict: do they increase tensions, or can we use them to resolve, transform or end the conflict? A central focus of the course will be on American Jewish theology concerning the conflict, on the image of Israel in the U.S.A., and how these are both relevant to violence and peace-‐making in Israel/Pales'ne. We will examine subjects like: sovereignty and security, rights and obliga'ons, war and peace, nonviolence and occupa'on. We will learn of different perspec'ves of Jewish law banning both Jewish sovereignty and Zionist ideology. We will re-‐examine the term "Judaism" -‐ today "Judaisms" is possibly more correct -‐ and study the implica'ons of this new term for Israel as a “Jewish State.” We will focus on the Israeli seKlements from a religious poli'cal perspec've, on the role of religion in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), and on the role of interfaith dialogue in transforming or ending the conflict. This course will require that students prac'ce the Greek virtue of epoché – suspending their judgments about the Israeli-‐Pales'nian conflict and trying to see it from new angles. The materials of the course will include mostly primary sources like Jewish theological texts, documentaries, memoirs, ar'cles of poli'cal cri'cism and short film clips. No prior knowledge of Israel or Judaism is required, but students will need the courage to devote themselves to learning about the conflict from new perspec'ves.
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340-‐3: FoundaOons of ChrisOan Thought III / ChrisOna Traina, TTH 9:30-‐10:50 AM
This course deals with the par'cular ways in which historical events and cultural transforma'ons of the 19th and 20th century affected both the content and the method of Chris'an theology. Among these are the development of historical cri'cism; democra'za'on; world war; and jus'ce movements organized around race, culture, class, and gender. Views of sin and salva'on, incarna'on and redemp'on, and knowledge of God figure very differently in this period than the preceding ones. We will learn how representa've modern and contemporary Western theologians have dealt with these issues. We will also discuss how they have responded to the pressures of intellectual, poli'cal, and cultural movements on theology. This is the last in a series of three units. Relg 340-‐1 (Fall 2011, with Professor Kieckhefer) dealt with Chris'an theology of the fourth through the fi?eenth centuries. Relg 340-‐2 (Winter 2012, with Professor Helmer) dealt with the Protestant Reforma'on, Pie'sm, and the Enlightenment. The first two units are not prerequisites for the third, although they are highly recommended. Students who have taken the other two will find their themes con'nuing in it. Students will write journal responses to the readings (typically four for each of three units) and papers: either two 5-‐page papers or one 10-‐page paper. Class par'cipa'on and small group discussion are central elements of the course.
346: Church Architecture / Richard Kieckhefer, MWF 2:00-‐2:50 PM
This class will examine church architecture, its theological significance, and its liturgical uses. We will be looking at representa've examples of church architecture from the third century to the twenty-‐first, and we will be reading commentaries on church design that tell us what churches meant to the people who built them and worshiped in them.
349: Topics in ChrisOanity – Love and Evil / ChrisOne Helmer, TTH 11:00AM-‐12:20 PM
The problem of evil presents a serious objec'on to the idea of God as love. How can the prevalence of evil in this world be reconciled with a loving God? In this course we inves'gate the concepts of love and evil from a Chris'an theological perspec've. We will study different explana'ons for evil, how evil is related to God, and how different theologians understand love as a solu'on to the problem of evil. The course is a seminar and readings are selected from the history of modern Chris'an thought, specifically Søren Kierkegaard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Marilyn McCord Adams, Friedrich Schleiermacher, John Hick, and Mar'n Luther King Jr.
349: Heresy in Early ChrisOanity / Den Dulk, TTH 2:00-‐3:20 PM
Early Chris'anity was remarkably diverse. Some Chris'ans believed in one God, others in two, s'll others thought there were 30 or even 365. Some early Chris'an texts made their way into the New Testament, but many others did not. What happened to all these various other "Chris'ani'es"? And why is it that one form of Chris'anity became "orthodox" while others were rejected as "here'cal"? In this course we will study a wide-‐ranging selec'on of ancient Chris'an figures, texts, and ideas that have been categorized under the rubric of "heresy". We will ask when, why and how they were rejected. What led to their demise and why is it that only "orthodox" Chris'anity ul'mately survived?
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373: Religion and Bioethics – Organ DonaOon & TransplantaOon / Alyssa Henning, TTh 2:00-‐3:20 PM Bioethics raises ques'ons about the ethical and social implica'ons of technologically-‐driven advances in science and medicine. One topic that has riddled bioethics nearly as long as the field has existed is organ transplanta'on and dona'on. What steps should the U.S. take to increase the number of transplantable organs available? How should we define death? How should we priori'ze pa'ents on organ transplant wai'ng lists? Should the United States pay organ "donors" to increase the number of organs available for transplanta'on? Do more recent advances, such as face transplants and limb transplants, raise any unique ethical considera'ons? In this course, we will explore Chris'an, Jewish, and Muslim primary sources and scholarship, as well as philosophical perspec'ves, as they apply to the bioethical debates over organ dona'on and transplanta'on. We will see how scholars use religious sources to think about these issues and compare religious responses to those of secular philosophers. 374: Contemporary Religious Thought – Religion and Literature / Claire Sufrin TTh 11:00-‐12:20 PM
462: Religion, Media, and Digital Cultures / Sarah Taylor, Th 2:00-‐4:30 PM
This course addresses the intersec'on of religion and literature in Judaism and Chris'anity from several perspec'ves. The syllabus begins with biblical stories and then considers ways in which these narra'ves have been understood as a founda'on for theological reflec'on. The second part of the course considers literature that incorporates themes and images drawn from sacred text. Finally, the third part of the course considers whether works of literature can be read as religious thought.
In this graduate seminar, we dive into one of today's most exci'ng and rapidly growing areas of scholarship -‐ the intriguing intersec'ons and complex entanglements of religion and media in contemporary culture. Drawing from a diverse array of interdisciplinary sources, we will explore what media studies and communica'ons theories have to offer the study of religion, and reciprocally how religious studies scholarship might enrich media studies. We will look at such areas as: how religion gets mediated; the religious dimensions of transmedia storytelling and media world-‐building; religion as communica'on; online group iden'ty forma'on and religious iden'ty construc'on; the blurred boundaries between the so-‐called "sacred and the secular" in the study of religion and media; controversies in both religious worlds and media worlds over the authorized and unauthorized circula'on and distribu'on of content; and how a beKer understanding of intermediality in the digital age might inform our theore'cal understandings of religion. Of par'cular interest in this course will be the impact of digital culture on the media-‐religion interface. Students will be asked to conduct original research, to present their research in conference-‐like format, and to produce a shorter version of their final project for submission to one of the course-‐recommended media/religion/cultural studies online publica'ons. Students will also receive an introduc'on to key professional organiza'ons, guilds, and research centers that support work on religion, media, and culture.
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Graduate Courses
RELIGION 471/HIST 405/GEND_STUD 490-‐21: Body/Embodiment and Materiality Michelle Molina, F 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM
This seminar explores theore'cal approaches to the problem of body/embodiment/materiality. One aim of the course is to examine various methodological approaches to embodiment and materiality, making use of sociology and philosophy (Jane BenneK, Pierre Bourdieu, Maurice Merleau-‐Ponty). The second and closely related aim is to situate bodies in 'me and place, that is, in history. Here we look to the par'cular circumstances that shaped the manner in which historical actors experienced their bodies in the Chris'an west (Peter Brown, Caroline Bynum, Mary Carruthers, Michel Foucault). Ul'mately, we will be examining theore'cal tools while we put them to work. The goal: how to use these theorists to write more dynamic, crea've, interes'ng scholarship?
474: Religion and NarraOve / Barry Wimpfeimer, T 1:30-‐4:00 PM
Narra'ves are centrally important to religions. From founda'onal myths that create the space within which religion happens to discrete episodes that ground specific rituals, narra'ves are the very stuff of religion. The purpose of this course is to consider narra'ves as a special site for the produc'on of religious meaning; the course will draw heavily from both religion theory and literary theory. Issues we will cover include: whether textual meaning is located in the author, text or reader; how the religious context of a narra've affects its possible interpreta'ons; how myths and rituals comprise different modes of narra've; the rela'onship between narra've 'me and religious 'me; the challenge to authority inherent to much religious narra've; the variety of ways through which religious figures mobilize narra've to further their authority. This course will u'lize Jewish narra'ves from the Bible, Rabbinic Literature and the Jewish folk tradi'on as primary texts. Students will be expected to build on materials covered in the course by applying narra've theory to the study of religious narra'ves either Jewish or otherwise. Some of the works to be used are: Paul Ricouer, Figuring the Sacred; Roland Barthes, Mythologies; Hayden White, "The Value of Narra'vity in the Representa'on of Reality;" Robert Segal, ed., The Myth and Ritual Theory; Jerome Bruner, The Making of Stories; Mikhail Bakh'n, Problems of Dostoevsky's Poe>cs; Clifford Geertz, The Interpreta>on of Cultures; Stanley Fish, Is There a Text in This Class?
Spring 2014 Courses
Graduate Courses (conOnue)